Forza Horizon 6 finally gives players what they want
Forza Horizon 6 is real. We all knew that, really, and I even covered rumors leading up to the announcement (which ended up being true). It still feels great to write it, though — Xbox unveiled Forza Horizon 6 at the Tokyo Game Show.
We only have a short teaser trailer to slake our Forza Horizon thirst right now, but it still confirms that fans are finally getting the location we’ve requested since the first Horizon game released back in 2012.
Japan is the setting of choice for FH6, and all the ingredients are here for this to possibly be the best open-world racing game of all time. I’m getting ahead of myself, though — here’s what I want to see, and everything we already know about Forza Horizon 6.
I can’t help but get excited over a teaser
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You can check out the Tokyo Game Show 2025 teaser trailer above, but there isn’t a ton to see at this point. The trailer takes us through the history of Forza’s most popular series, starting with Colorado and heading to Europe, Australia, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and finally ending with the latest destination.
Then, subtlety be damned, the camera sweeps up, and we’re met with a gorgeous vista featuring one of the most distinct natural landmarks in the world. It’s Mount Everest! No, wait, this is Mount Fuji in Japan.
That’s honestly not a lot to go on, but it’s enough to get me on board the hype train. Forza Horizon 6 will take us to Japan on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox on PC via Xbox Play Anywhere, Windows PC via Steam, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Xbox Game Pass sometime in 2026, and we’ll be learning more about the game starting early next year.
I know how seriously Playground takes adapting a real-world location to the fictional Horizon Festival.
We didn’t even see any cars, so I can’t start on my next-gen Forza Horizon car list. So, why am I so excited? Because I know how seriously developer Playground Games takes adapting a real-world location to the fictional Horizon Festival, and there’s a reason Japan has been so highly requested by the Forza community for years.
It’s not just the sweeping landscapes and diverse rural areas, or the bustling urban environments packed with decades of history — it’s Japan’s rich car history, which could shape Forza Horizon 6 into a very different game than we’ve seen before.
There’s a reason our first dive into the world of FH6 is this interview with the game’s Art Director and Cultural Consultant at News.Xbox.com. I’m already impatient to see more.
I have big hopes for Forza Horizon 6
I love Forza Horizon 5, but I’ll be the first to admit I haven’t properly sat down to play it for a long while. I’m ready for the next chapter in the Forza Horizon series, and while we still have months (at least) to wait, I already know some of what I want to see in the next game.
It helps that Playground will be supported by Turn 10 Studios (of Forza Motorsport fame), which should help make FH6 the biggest and most ambitious of the series so far.
- Improved driving & world physics. This one is basically a given, thanks to the new ForzaTech engine that Forza Horizon 6 will undoubtedly be built on, but I still want to see proper upgrades to the driving physics and depth of environmental details.
- Deeper car customization. If Forza Horizon 6 is really going to embrace Japanese car culture, more options to customize our vehicles is a must. The Forza Horizon series’ car customization has been a little lackluster for years now, so this is Playground’s chance to completely change things up and give us more ways to flex our style.
- A different live service model. One of the reasons I stopped playing Forza Horizon 5 as much is how it felt like I was logging in every week just to complete a checklist and leave again. The weekly Festival Playlist had a tendency to become monotonous and repetitive, and FH5’s monthly updates often failed to bring any meaningful changes or new content beyond a handful of new vehicles. I’d like to see Playground get more creative here, even if it means updates take a little longer to arrive.
- Three DLC expansions. I know I’m jumping way ahead of myself here, since we know nothing about FH6 and whether it’ll get expansions at all, but previous Forza Horizon games have gotten two expansions and then nothing but cars and free updates after. It has never felt like quite enough, and I’d like to see Forza Horizon 6 push the bar even higher with a third beefy expansion after launch.
When it comes to the campaign, online content, driver progression, and the car list… I’ll wait until I see what Playground has been cooking up. This game is bound to be massive, and should keep me pretty busy in the coming months as Playground and Xbox drip feed us information leading up to release.
Here’s everything we know so far
When is Forza Horizon 6 releasing?
Forza Horizon 6 is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC via the Microsoft Store and Steam, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Xbox Game Pass in 2026, with a PlayStation 5 release sometime after launch.
Is Forza Horizon 6 coming to PlayStation?
Yes, Forza Horizon 6 is already confirmed for PlayStation 5, but it’ll be coming to Xbox and PC first. We don’t know exactly how long the wait will be after the initial launch.
Can I preorder Forza Horizon 6?
You can wishlist Forza Horizon 6 on Xbox.com or Store.SteamPowered.com, but it’s still far too earlier to know pricing or preorder information. We should learn about both, including potential preorder bonuses and DLC details, later in 2026.
What cars will be in Forza Horizon 6?
We don’t know! Forza Horizon 5’s car list numbers well over 800 unique vehicles, so we’re expecting FH6 to boast quite the impressive roster… but we don’t know even a single car, yet.
What do we know about Forza Horizon 6’s world?
We know that Forza Horizon 6 is set in Japan, and will feature a variety of blended urban and rural locations, including Mount Fuji and Tokyo City — “…one of our most detailed and layered environments to date,” according to Forza Horizon 6 Art Director, Don Arceta. We’ll learn more about how Japan as a location, and Japan’s deep car culture, will impact FH6 in 2026.
Can I still play Forza Horizon 5?
The reveal of Forza Horizon 6 doesn’t impact FH5 at all. The previous Forza Horizon game already isn’t getting regular content updates or new cars anymore, but the community can vote on returning content and events to help complete their garages each month, and all online content is fully active.
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